Born to Sing [Box]

by Connie Smith

Overview

This set is one of the many reasons why Bear Family is the reissue label of many kinds of American roots music -- especially country, rockabilly, Western swing and bluegrass. Connie Smith, who still records on occasion today, was one of countrypolitan's first country music superstars of her gender after Patsy Cline, whom she was often compared to because she came onto the scene with the number one single "Once a Day" (penned by Bill Anderson who got her a record deal). These four discs document her amazing RCA career in 127 cuts! While it's true that Smith recorded for Columbia and Monument, it was the RCA sides that cemented her reputation as both a performer and as a songwriter. While Smith has less than a handful of her own cuts here, it hardly matters. She worked with the top songwriters in the business at the time, including Anderson who wrote for her until she semi-retired. Others include Dallas Frazier, Bobby Bare, Albert Brumley, Hank Cochran, Arthur Smith, June Carter Cash, and Jimmie Davis. Taken as a whole or in parts, this is stunning and reflects the height of the country music establishment in the '60s and the countrypolitan sound. That said, Smith's voice is what remains center-stage here; her sophisticated emotional delivery, her control and phrasing remain a high-water mark today. ~ Thom Jurek

Product Details

Release Date:	05/08/2001
Label:	Bear Family Records
UPC:	4000127163684
Rank:	101280

Tracks

Disc 1

1. I'm Ashamed of You
2. The Threshold
3. Once a Day
4. Darling, Are You Ever Coming Home
5. I Don't Love You Anymore
6. The Hinges on the Door
7. Tell Another Lie
8. Don't Forget (I Still Love You)
9. Tiny Blue Transistor Radio
10. The Other Side of You
11. Then and Only Then
12. It's Just My Luck
13. Senses
14. I Can't Remember
15. Will the Real Me Please Stop Crying
16. Even Tho
17. Love Is No Excuse
18. Not 'Till You Come Back to Me
19. Two Empty Arms
20. I Can Stand It (As Long as You Can)
21. I'll Be There (If You Ever Want Me)
22. I Thought of You
23. I Can Turn Your World Around
24. More to Love Than This
25. House Divided
26. Holdin' On
27. If You Won't Tell on Me
28. If I Talk to Him
29. I Don't Have Anyplace to Go
30. Everybody's Gotta Be Somewhere
31. Same as Mine
32. Holdin' On

Disc 2

33. Nobody But a Fool (Would Love You)
34. I'll Never Get Over Loving You
35. Go Ahead and Make Me Cry
36. In My Baby's Arms Again
37. For Better or for Worse
38. Nothin' Shakin' (But the Leaves on the Trees)
39. Where Could I Go But to the Lord
40. Farther Along
41. When God Dips His Love in My Heart
42. He Set Me Free
43. Wings of a Dove
44. I Saw a Man
45. Just a Closer Walk with Thee
46. Po' Folks
47. Four Walls
48. Cry, Cry, Cry
49. In the Garden
50. Wayfaring Pilgrim
51. Keep on Holding to Those Nail Scarred Hands
52. Satisfied
53. I Wouldn't Take Nothin' for My Journey
54. Five Fingers to Spare
55. Ain't Had No Lovin'
56. You and Only You
57. Strange
58. Go Away Stranger
59. A Touch of Yesterday
60. Born to Sing
61. Invisible Tears
62. Paper Roses
63. I Don't Know Why I Keep Loving You

Disc 3

64. I Will
65. Gone
66. My Little Corner of the World
67. Pas Souvent
68. J'Imaginais Autrement l'Amour
69. Le Jour et la Nuit
70. L' Amour N'Excuse Pas
71. Love's Gonna Live Here
72. Foolin' Around
73. You Ain't Woman Enough (To Take My Man)
74. I Overlooked an Orchid (While Searching for a Rose)
75. I'm Little But I'm Loud
76. Y'all Come
77. A-Sleepin' at the Foot of the Bed
78. Slowly
79. World of Forgotten People
80. The Hurtin's All Over
81. It'll Be Easy
82. I'll Come Running
83. I'll Come Running
84. Ride, Ride, Ride
85. My Own Peculiar Way
86. Walk Out Backwards
87. Your Mem'ry Comes Along
88. Downtown
89. Born a Woman
90. The Night Has a Thousand Eyes
91. That's What It's Like to Be Lonesome
92. It's Gonna Rain Today
93. It's Now or Never
94. My Heart Has a Mind of Its Own
95. City Lights

Disc 4

96. On and on and On
97. Everybody Loves Somebody
98. That's What It's Like to Be Lonesome
99. In Case You Ever Change Your Mind
100. It Comes and Goes
101. My Whole World Is Falling Down
102. It's Not the End of Everything
103. Cincinnati, Ohio
104. I'll Love You Enough (For Both of Us)
105. Only for Me
106. I'll Come Running
107. Easy Come, Easy Go
108. I Love You Drops
109. Don't Feel Sorry for Me
110. I'll Love You Enough (For Both of Us)
111. Burning Bridges
112. Don't Keep Me Lonely Too Long
113. There Goes My Everything
114. Touch My Heart
115. Walk Through This World with Me
116. It's Such a Pretty World Today
117. If Teardrops Were Silver
118. It Only Hurts for a Little While
119. How Much Lonelier Can Lonely Be
120. I'd Rather Be a Fool
121. Surely
122. I'm Your Woman
123. Burning a Hole in My Mind
124. Baby's Back Again
125. Haunted Heart
126. Burning a Hole in My Mind
127. The Twelfth of Never

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Connie Smith   Primary Artist,Vocals,Guitar
Dolores Edgin   Vocals
Harold Bradley   Guitar
Gary McSpadden   Vocals
Floyd Cramer   Piano
Byron Bach   Cello
Brenton Banks   Violin
Dorothy Ann Dillard   Vocals
Solie Fott   Viola
Priscilla Ann Hubbard   Vocals
Armando Morales   Vocals
Lillian Vannhunt   Violin
Hugh Gordon Stoker   Vocals
Harold Rugg   Guitar (Steel)
William Guilford Wright, Jr.   Vocals
Bill Walker   Organ,Vibraphone
Lightnin' Chance   Bass
Jake Hess   Vocals
Wayne Moss   Guitar (Electric)
Earl Dean Porter   Guitar (Electric),Guitar (12 String)
Herman Wade   Guitar (Rhythm)
Karl Garvin   Vocals
Roy M. "Junior" Husky   Bass
Jerry Glenn Kennedy   Guitar
Kenneth Goldsmith   Violin
Walter Haynes   Guitar (Bass)
Hargus "Pig" Robbins   Piano
Jerry Reed Hubbard   Dobro,Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (Electric)
Millie Kirkham   Vocals
Ray C. Walker   Vocals
Anita Carter   Vocals
Henry Slaughter   Organ,Harpsichord
Henry Strzelecki   Bass
Martin Katahn   Violin
Howard Carpenter   Viola

Technical Credits

Ned Miller   Composer
Jerry Crutchfield   Composer
Randy Starr   Composer
Ray Price   Composer
Aaron Schroeder   Composer
Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith   Composer
Tommy Hill   Composer
Dolores Edgin   Composer
Hank Mills   Composer
Mitchell Torok   Composer
Willie Nelson   Composer
Albert E. Brumley   Composer
George Campbell   Composer
Harlan Howard   Composer
Glen Campbell   Composer
Dale Noe   Composer
Paul Francis Webster   Composer
Bob Ferguson   Composer,Producer
Colin Escott   Biographical Information
Lee Emerson   Composer
Jimmie Davis   Composer
Jack Keller   Composer
Tony Hatch   Composer
Traditional   Composer
Ted Harris   Composer
Shirly Lyn   Composer
Smokey Rogers   Composer
Paul Tannen   Composer
Bill Anderson   Composer
Brenton Banks   Contractor
Aubrey Mayhew   Composer
Betty Sue Perry   Composer
Baker Knight   Composer
Bobby Bare   Composer
Ken Lane   Composer
Martha Sharp   Composer
Marilyn Garrett   Composer
Brenda Joyce Hillard   Composer
Christian Bruhn   Composer
Robbie Bowen   Composer
Bill Walker   Leader,Contractor
Pierre Delanoe   Composer
Adam Skeaping   Mastering
Pat White   Composer
Marge Barton   Composer
R.A. Andreas   Photography,Illustrations
Happy Wilson   Composer
Earl Dean Porter   Leader
Billie Jo Spears   Composer
Boudleaux Bryant   Composer
Les Leverett   Photography,Illustrations
Connie Smith   Composer,Photography,Illustrations
Irving Taylor   Composer
Jack Rhodes   Composer
James B. Coats   Composer
Curly Fox   Composer
Fred Spielman   Composer
Carl Smith   Composer
Carl Story   Composer
Ben Weisman   Composer
Fred Carter, Jr.   Composer
Fred Wise   Composer
Jean Chapel   Composer
Mack David   Composer
Wally Gold   Composer
Webb Pierce   Composer
Leslie Lyle   Composer
Jan Crutchfield   Composer
Joe Williams   Composer
Lee Pockriss   Composer
Jeannie Seely   Composer
Loretta Lynn   Composer
Johnny Paycheck   Composer
Dick Glasser   Composer
Sam Coslow   Composer
Sandra Seamons   Composer
Martha Carson   Composer
Justin Tubb   Composer
Kay Savage   Composer
Little Jimmy Dickens   Composer
Pierre Saka   Composer
Betty Anderson   Composer
Will Morgan   Composer
Jimmy Rollins   Composer
Priscilla Mitchell   Composer
Robert Tubert   Composer
Ramona Redd   Composer
Dorothy Wayne   Composer
Guy Louis   Composer
Janice Torre   Composer
Carl Peoples   Composer
Wolfgang Taubenauer   Artwork
Sue Miller   Composer
Chuck Goddard   Composer
W. Mary Jones   Composer
Shirley Wood   Composer
Marvin Moore   Composer
Holger Von Bargen   Art Direction
Henry Ebner   Composer
Cleavant Derricks   Composer
Cy Coben   Composer
Frank Robinson   Composer
Don Wayne   Composer
Charles Goodman   Composer
Rusty Gabbard   Composer
Walter Scott   Composer
Johnny Russell   Composer
Johnny Tillotson   Composer
Liz Anderson   Composer
Howard Greenfield   Composer
June Carter Cash   Composer
Jerry Livingston   Composer
Jerry Reed Hubbard   Leader
Richard Weize   Discography,Reissue Producer
Melba Montgomery   Composer
Ray Griff   Composer
A.L. Owens   Composer
Arlie Duff   Composer
Buck Owens   Composer
Hank Cochran   Composer
Dallas Frazier   Composer
Henry Slaughter   Composer